Nintendo Wii Fanboy

This exotic wrist strap claims to make use of bio-ceramics, a composite of lead-free minerals, to douse your arm with far infrared rays and help with blood circulation. Though "far infrared rays" might sound sinister if you're not familiar with them and their uses, they are supposedly quite healthy.

You can't see far infrared rays in the sun's light, but you can feel their warmth absorbed into your skin. In addition to their blood circulation benefits, these miracle beams are also said to naturally reduce inflammation, decrease pain, and revitalize skin cells. All that for only 780 yen (approximately $6.33)!

Well, either demand for replacement wrist straps was higher than Nintendo anticipated, or they just decided the new console and everything that goes with it was just too pretty. Whatever the reason, some gamers are crying foul because their replacement wrist straps are arriving, and they're not quite what was expected.

In a word, they're ugly. At least, that seems to be the general consensus thus far. But whatever your opinion on the aesthetic qualities of the new new wrist straps, they're certainly different from what we've seen before. But perhaps there is a method to the madness. It's been reported that the new end pieces are rubber instead of plastic. Perhaps the were concerned about a new bevy of Wii-based injuries now that the breakage issue has been addressed. Have cries of "you'll Wii your eye out!" been averted? Either way, reports vary; some folks have the new, rubberized version, and some folks have the sleeker, Nintendo-fied replacements. So long as they work, we're mostly happy. How about you?

Welcome to the Wii Warm Up, a new feature here at Wii Fanboy that we've shamelessly stolen from our friends at WoW Insider. The Warm Up will be a daily feature here, a morning topic wherein we can gather and talk about, y'know, stuff. Specifically, Wii stuff. Yeah, Wii stuff at Wii Fanboy. We know that's a tough one to swallow.

For our inaugural topic, we thought we'd ask you about those replacement wrist straps. Did you go in for them, or did you skip out? Tell us your opinion on the new straps, or let us know why you didn't change if that was your choice. Inquiring fanboys want to know.

[Image from Aeropause, where they wasted no time upgrading.]

While incautious use of the Wiimote will (probably) not result in death, there are apparently some risks involved with the components of your new console. Nintendo's manuals are chock full of warnings, and in fact, a screen reminding players to be sure and employ the wrist strap pops up with annoying frequency. But what about those situations that aren't covered in the manual? You may not shoot your eye out playing Red Steel, but we keep waiting for the first stories of flying Wiimotes clocking people in the head.

Worried about all the possible heinous outcomes? 1UP prepared a handy visual guide to possible "Wiinjuries" both physical and psychological. Who knew that Wii caused cancer? According to the above photo, it just might ....

Check after the jump for more personal story.